Portal:Venezuela


The Venezuela Portal


Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi), and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. Venezuela consists of 23 states, the Capital District, and federal dependencies covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north and in the capital.

The territory of Venezuela was colonized by Spain in 1522, amid resistance from Indigenous peoples. In 1811, it became one of the first Spanish-American territories to declare independence from the Spanish and to form part of the first federal Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia). It separated as a full sovereign country in 1830. During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional military dictators until the mid-20th century. From 1958, the country had a series of democratic governments, as an exception where most of the region was ruled by military dictatorships, and the period was characterized by economic prosperity.

Venezuela is officially a federal presidential republic, but has experienced democratic backsliding under the Chávez and Maduro administrations, shifting into an authoritarian state. It ranks low in international measurements of freedom of the press, civil liberties, and control of corruption. Venezuela is a developing country, has the world's largest known oil reserves, and has been one of the world's leading exporters of oil. Previously, the country was an underdeveloped exporter of agricultural commodities such as coffee and cocoa, but oil quickly came to dominate exports and government revenues. The excesses and poor policies of the incumbent government led to the collapse of Venezuela's entire economy. Venezuela struggles with record hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods, unemployment, poverty, disease, high child mortality, malnutrition, environmental issues, severe crime, and widespread corruption. US sanctions and the seizure of Venezuelan assets overseas have cost the country $24–30 billion. These factors have precipitated the Venezuelan refugee crisis in which more than 7.7 million people had fled the country by June 2024. By 2017, Venezuela was declared to be in default regarding debt payments by credit rating agencies. The crisis in Venezuela has contributed to a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation. (Full article...)

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Ciudad Bolívar (Spanish pronunciation: [sjuˈðað βoˈliβaɾ]; Spanish for "Bolivar City"), formerly known as Angostura and St. Thomas de Guyana, is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolívar State. It lies at the spot where the Orinoco River narrows to about 1 mile (1.6 km) in width, is the site of the first bridge across the river, and is a major riverport for the eastern regions of Venezuela.

Historic Angostura gave its name to the Congress of Angostura, to the Angostura tree, to the House of Angostura, and to Angostura bitters. Modern Ciudad Bolívar has a well-preserved historic center; a cathedral and other original colonial buildings surround the Plaza Bolívar. (Full article...)

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The Cerro El Ávila, as seen from the San Bernardino district, in Caracas.

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Manuel Trujillo Durán (8 January 1871 – 14 March 1933) was a Venezuelan photographer who pioneered film in Venezuela. Trujillo was most successful as a photographer, though he dabbled in other industries and is best remembered for his connections to the fledgling film industry in Venezuela. He became one of the first people from Latin America to learn how to show films; he was thought for many years to be the director of Venezuela's first films, and traveled through Venezuela and Colombia with projectors to introduce cinema to this part of the South American continent. (Full article...)

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This is a list of the bird species recorded in Venezuela. The avifauna of Venezuela has 1413 confirmed species, of which 44 are endemic, six have been introduced by humans, 48 are rare or vagrants, and one has been extirpated. An additional 20 species are unconfirmed (see below).

Except as an entry is cited otherwise, the list of species is that of the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society. The list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families, and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) are also those of the SACC unless noted otherwise. Capitalization within English names follows Wikipedia practice, i.e. only the first word of a name is capitalized unless a place name such as São Paulo is used. (Full article...)

Current events

7 August 2025 – United States–Venezuela relations
U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi announces a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, saying his capture and extradition to the United States is vital for national security. (BBC News)
29 July 2025 –
Seven people are killed and three others are injured when a Venezuelan Air Force Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft carrying members of the Yanomami Indigenous community, medical personnel and crew crashes after a suspected technical failure in the Amazon Rainforest, Amazonas State, Venezuela. (The Times of India) (ASN)
21 July 2025 – El Salvador–Venezuela relations
The Venezuelan attorney general's office opens a formal investigation into Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele and his government's alleged mistreatment of Venezuelan migrants detained in the United States and sent to the CECOT megaprison, built to hold alleged gang members. (AP)
18 July 2025 – March 2025 American deportations of Venezuelans
The governments of El Salvador, the United States, and Venezuela conduct a prisoner swap involving over 200 Venezuelans incarcerated at the Terrorism Confinement Center in exchange for the release of ten Americans from Venezuelan custody. (Reuters)

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Things you can do


Here are some Venezuela tasks:

WikiProjects

  • WikiProject Venezuela
The Project page was designed with the aim of improving the quality of articles related to Venezuela, in Wikipedia and other media. Feel free to join in!
  • WikiProject South America - Associated
  • WikiProject Latin America - Associated
Considered as a "parent" project, together with the countries project.
  • WikiProject Venezuelan cinema task force
Task force focusing on cinema related to Venezuela.

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